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ound and faced him. The observation had struck home. He realized how poignantly Dick must have endured the loss of Echo and thought of his betrayal by Jack. As he had suffered mentally so Dick must be suffering in the desert. In self-justification he returned to his old argument. "I waited until I was sure he was dead. Six months I waited after we heard the news. After I had told Echo I loved her and found that I was loved in return--then came this letter. God! What a fight I had with myself when I found that he lived--was thinking of returning home to claim her for his own. I rode out into the hills and fought it out all alone, like an Indian--then I resolved to hurry the wedding--to lie to her--and I have been living that lie every minute, every hour." Jack leaned heavily on the table. His head sank. His voice dropped almost to a whisper. Allen slapped him on the back to cheer him up. Philosophically he announced: "Well, it's got to be as it is. You'll mebbe never hear from him again. You mustn't never tell her. I ain't a-goin' to say nothin' about it--her happiness means everything to me." Jack grasped his hand in silent thankfulness. The two men walked slowly out of the room to the corral. As Echo galloped across the prairie in the glorious morning air, the sunshine, the lowing of the cattle on the hills, and the songs of the birds in the trees along the Sweetwater had banished all depressing thoughts, and her mind dwelt on her love for Jack and the pleasantness of the lines in which her life had fallen. Only one small cloud had appeared on the horizon. Jack had not shared with her his confidences in the business of the ranch. He told her he did not want to worry her with such cares. True, there were times when he was deeply abstracted; but in her presence his moroseness vanished quickly. Carefully as he had tried to hide his secret, she had, with a woman's intuition, seen beneath the surface of things and realized that something was lacking to complete her happiness. As Echo turned toward home a song sprang to her lips. Polly spied her far down the trail. "Boys, she's coming," she shouted to the men, who were at the bunk-house awaiting Mrs. Payson's return. As they passed the corral they called to Jack and Allen to join them in the living-room to prepare for the surprise for Echo. The party quickly reassembled. "Good land!" shouted Allen, "get something to cover the piann
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